Fence Repair in Three Way, TN
A post that rocks, a gate that sags, a panel that has pulled loose. We repair fences in Three Way, and we start by telling you which office to ask about the rules, because the city and the county each handle part of it.
Who to ask about a fence in Three Way
Three Way is its own city, but it is also in Madison County, and the rules come from two places. Getting that straight first saves a wasted trip.
Zoning is the city's. Three Way posts its zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations on its website, City Hall is on Three Way Lane, and a Zoning Administrator issues certificates of zoning compliance. Under the ordinance, fences, walls and hedges "may be permitted in any required yard, or along the edge of any yard." In a required front yard, nothing may materially impede vision across the yard above two and a half feet. On a corner lot, nothing may materially block vision between two and a half and ten feet above the street grade. We did not find a back-yard height cap or a finished-side rule in the text.
Building permits are the county's. Three Way's own page says the Madison County Building Department is responsible for issuing permits and performing inspections. The county's list of permit exemptions includes fences not exceeding seven feet in height. That list is the county's, and zoning approval is a separate question, so do not read the seven-foot line as permission to build anything you like. The city's planning agendas have also shown text amendments on lot widths and the residential district, so the rules can move.
For anything bigger than a board or post swap, confirm your address with City Hall and the county. Our permits and rules guide covers what to ask and who to ask.
Get a free estimate
Call or text Greg at (731) 240-8701, or use the form. Photos of your yard help.
Free on-site estimates in Jackson & West Tennessee.
Check it yourself first
Census estimates put about nine in ten Three Way homes as owner-occupied, so a lot of repair starts with the owner looking first. Plenty of fence trouble can be sized up in ten minutes, and it helps both of us if you do.
The rock test
Grab each post at chest height and push. A post that moves in the ground is loose. If it is loose at the bottom of the hole and not just the top, shims will not keep it put.
The soil-line check
On wood posts, press a screwdriver into the wood where it meets the ground. Soft or crumbling wood here means the post has rotted at grade, even if the rest looks fine.
The gate sag test
Open the gate and let go. If the latch side drops and drags, look at the hinge post before you blame the gate. The post it hangs from is often the problem before the frame is.
The line check
Sight down the fence from one end. A run that bows or leans one way together is a wind or ground problem. A single post out of line is a single post.
If you find one loose post and everything else is firm, that is a small job. If you find several in a row, or soft wood at the soil line down the run, call us and send a photo. We would rather you know that now than after a spring storm finds it for you. The post side of this is covered in our guide to fence posts in West Tennessee soil.
Frontage along the US-45 split
Three Way sits where US-45 splits into 45W toward Humboldt and 45E toward Milan. A fence close to a busy road lives differently from one in the back of a cul-de-sac. It may catch more wind than one sheltered behind houses. Metal parts such as gate hardware and brackets are worth checking on a roadside gate before the wood gives out.
If a repair means moving a line, find out where your property ends and where the right-of-way starts first. A fence set back a few feet and then replaced a few feet forward can end up in someone else's ground. Confirming the line is easier than fixing it after. For disputes with a neighbor over where the line is, see the property line guide.
Low ground is part of the picture here too. Middle Fork Bottoms Recreation Area lies between Jackson and Three Way on the Middle Fork of the Forked Deer. The city's own page quotes a West Tennessee River Basin Authority engineer: "It is so flat and is so low," and the land "is in a flood zone." If your lot is on similar low ground, a bottom board that stays wet after rain wants a gap at the ground or a rot-resistant bottom course, not the same board put back.
Newer subdivisions: young fences with old problems
The median home in Three Way was built in the late 1990s, and about two in five were built after 2000. The city's planning-commission agendas from 2024 and 2025 list plats in Winchester Place and Ashberry Farms. We name them only as context for the kind of housing going up here. We do not have any HOA, covenant or architectural-review rules for either, and if you live in a development like these, your closing documents are where to look before a repair that changes the style, height or color.
A fence on an open lot with no windbreak takes the wind head on. A solid privacy fence there can act like a sail, and the run facing open ground may lean first, even when it is not old. A post that rocks on a fence that young can be a depth and exposure problem, not bad lumber. Reset it, and if several posts on the same run are loose, think about the whole run, not one post at a time.
What Three Way homeowners ask us
Who do I call about fence rules, the city or the county?
+Both, for different things. City Hall handles zoning, such as where a fence can sit in a yard and the front-yard sight rule. The Madison County Building Department is responsible for permits and inspections. For anything bigger than a board or post swap, or a moved line, ask both before work is priced.
Does the county's seven-foot exemption mean I can build any fence under that height?
+It means a fence not over seven feet is on the county's list of permit exemptions. Zoning is a separate question, and the city's front-yard sight rule still applies. Treat them as two questions.
One post on my fence rocks. Do I need a crew?
+Maybe not. If it is one post and the rest are firm, it is a small repair. If several in a row move, or the wood is soft at the ground line, it is bigger than one post, and a photo helps us tell you which.
My gate drags on the ground. Is it the gate?
+Often not. A hinge post that moved makes the gate hang lower on the latch side. The repair is a reset or braced post and a frame brought back to square, with hardware replaced if it has rusted. See gate repair.
Do I need approval from my subdivision to repair a fence?
+We found no covenant or review rule for any Three Way subdivision, so we cannot say. If you live in one, check your closing documents for covenants or an architectural committee before we schedule.
Do you give a free estimate?
+Yes. Send Greg a photo of what is wrong and your Three Way address by call or text, and the written estimate is free.
We Also Repair Fences In
Three Way is a short run north of Jackson, and we repair fences across Madison County and the Gibson County towns beyond it. If the fence is past repair, that is fence installation in Three Way, and the repair or replace guide helps you decide. The rest of our repair work is on fence repair services. Nearby, see Jackson, Humboldt and Milan.
Get a free estimate
Call or text Greg at (731) 240-8701, or use the form. Photos of your yard help.
Free on-site estimates in Jackson & West Tennessee.